A Grip on Sports: There are three true outcomes for sports rules – they will be broken, they will be challenged and they should always change with the times

A GRIP ON SPORTS • You know what four-letter word takes up way too much time and effort in sports these days? Rule. As in the maze of rules that entwine sports types from little tykes to octogenarians. On and off the field.

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• The NCAA is on the verge of adopting a rule to limit eligibility to five seasons in five years, starting right after high school. Basically. The organization will keep a few exceptions but the waiver system that allowed some players to be around nearly a decade would be gone.

College basketball coaches, including Mark Few, seem to love the idea. They want some sort of certainty in their increasingly uncertain world. But will the NCAA’s proposed change actually supply any?

The first uncertainty principle resides in state and federal courts. How will the judiciary that has been increasingly skeptical of most NCAA rules, agree to a rule that, on its face, seems to run afoul of anti-trust laws?

The second is even harder to rectify. Those same adjudicators have consistently ruled against the NCAA’s attempts to limit transfers on the same grounds. Limiting the ability of an employee – and that’s what college athletes are even if the NCAA doesn’t want to admit it – not covered by a collective bargaining agreement to earn all they can runs counter to the laws of the land. And is un-American. The five-year rule won’t stop a player from playing for five schools, shopping his skills to the highest bidder every time.

It’s a quandary alright. The only true fix, agree athletes are employees and reaching a CBA with them to cover all contingences, doesn’t seem viable anymore. Neither do changes in federal law that would strip power from athletes.

After years of top-down rule, the paradigm has been reversed. And it won’t change back without a fight.

• It took MLB decades to realize the game’s evolution was gutting the core of what made it special. It made rule changes, all of which – except one – seems to be working.

A pitch clock. Rules on pickoffs. Challenges. Roster limits. Limits on pitching changes. Electronic communications. And infield shift bans.

The last one was put into place to try to raise batting averages. To help make the single cool again. It hasn’t worked.

The others have to some degree. The game is faster. It moves along quickly and gets done in a reasonable time frame. But those less-tedious contests are still dominated by the tedium of everyone whaling away, trying to hit the ball out of the park. Even with rule-dictated created gaps in the infield and outfield.

But as this Athletic story lays out, research shows defenses have adapted. Hard-hit balls that used to fall don’t. Batting averages are still depressed and the three true outcomes – strike outs, walks and home runs – still dominate.

• Rules have a cousin. Schedules. They rule. Even if they are outdated. As the horse racing community knows. First-, second-, and third-hand.

For the second consecutive year, and way to often the past decade, the Kentucky Derby champion, in this case Golden Tempo, is not going to run in the Preakness.

After decades of the industry trying to breed another Triple Crown winner (there was an almost 40-year gap), just 11 years after American Pharoah finally broke through, horse racing’s crown jewel has been thrown on the garbage pile.

The animals, trainers and sport itself have evolved. Winning three grueling races in five weeks isn’t a thing anymore. Too much money rides on the Derby winner’s future.

Golden Tempo’s handlers are following the lead of Sovereignty’s and skipping the second leg, jumping ahead to the Belmont, at Saratoga for the second consecutive year.

That makes three times in five years the Derby winner has voluntarily pulled its name from the chance at eternal recognition.

How to fix it? Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde has an idea, one I’ve been championing for years. Move the Preakness to Memorial Day weekend (or the first weekend of June). Move the Belmont to July Fourth weekend. Give the horse more rest. Give them a chance to recover. Give the owners and trainers less cover. Make the second and, possibly, if the right horse wins, the third race matter again.

If baseball, an even more hide-bound sport, can evolve to the changing times, horse racing can too.

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WSU: Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, John Canzano wrote about football, change and money. The three true outcomes of college athletics? He also mentioned a new initiative for Oregon State. The Beavers are trying to raise $48 million. … If you have questions about what Oregon football is doing, we can pass along a few answers. … Is Bob Chesney the savior of UCLA football? Maybe. … One of Arizona’s strengths is it has kept its staff together. … Boise State sold a big chunk of its old turf to one person. … CBS has a look at bowls after the regular season. … In basketball news, the Oregon State men made one transfer official. … Oregon is now at eight incoming transfers. And may not be done. … Arizona State added an Australian big. … Colorado State added an American one. … Fresno State is looking for a buyer. Its arena needs a new naming-rights sponsor. … Is Koa Peat gone from Arizona for sure? … The Colorado women will be relying more on one of last season’s breakout players.

Preps: District playoffs are ready to go full throttle starting today. Dave Nichols has previews that cover baseball and soccer. He also has a roundup of Wednesday’s events. … Greg Lee has this coverage of Tuesday’s track and field meet for GSL schools.  

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, the conference’s softball tournament continued yesterday, with the two championship game (or games) participants decided. Idaho State and Sacramento State will meet today with the NCAA berth on the line. The Hornets eliminated Montana, who had eliminated Northern Colorado earlier Wednesday. The Bengals have two chances to win one game today on their home field for the title.

Indians: Spokane returned home and promptly began a winning streak. Yes, two consecutive wins is a streak by the strict definition. Dave returns with this coverage of last night’s 3-2 win over Tri-City at Avista.

Chiefs: Before the Indians won, Dave had a chance to update Spokane’s picks in the Western Hockey League’s prospect draft Wednesday.

Seahawks: Just who might be the Lumen Field opponent in the opener? Here are some thoughts. 

Mariners: The M’s earned a series win over the red-hot Atlanta Braves on Wednesday afternoon, and they did it with pitching and timely hitting. Even with a depleted bullpen. Bryan Woo returned to form, threw six one-hit shutout innings and Jose A. Ferrer, who shined in the closer role late last season in Washington, pitched a scoreless ninth as Seattle won 3-1. … Mike Vorel’s Kade Anderson column we linked yesterday? It is on the S-R site today. … Matt Calkins wonders if the Braves series showed what the M’s are truly capable of. Yes. … Cancer can take a lot, but, in one case, not dreams.

Storm: Coach Sonia Raman went from a college walk-on to a WNBA coach. How did she do that?

Sounders: Alex Roldan has been a revelation for Seattle this season.

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• A relatively quiet morning. Heck, this is the time of year when the entire sports world could be considered relatively quiet. With an emphasis on relatively. Until later …